Charging device



C. C. HANSEN CHARGING DEVICE Dec. 16, 1930.

Filed Feb. 24, 1930 INI/EN TOR. Zan Ha/zdew.

B Y M KLS A TTORNEY.

Patented Dec. 16, i930 CHARLES C. HANSEN, F EASTON, PENNSYLVANIA, .ASSIGNOR T0 INGERSOLL-RAND COMPANY, 0F JERSEY CITY, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEX/V JERSEY CHARGING DEVICE Application filed February 24, 1930. Serial No. 400,860.

This invention relates to charging devices, but more particularly to a device for deposit- -ing explosive material into a submerged drill hole.

One object of the invention is to facilitate the operation of depositing the explosive material in the drill hole and another object 1s to utilize the rock drill guide frame of a submarine drilling apparatus for guiding the charging device into the drill hole.

Other objects will be in part obvious and in part pointed out hereinafter.

In the accompanying drawings illustrating the invention and in which similar reference characters refer to similar parts,

Figure 1 is an elevation partly in section of a submarine drilling apparatus and showing the charging device suspended between the members comprising the guide frame of the drilling apparatus,

Figure 2 is an enlarged view of the charging device showing the manner in which the guide arms cooperate with the guide frame for guiding the container to the drill hole,

and

Figure 3 is a transverse view through Figure :2 on the line 3 3 looking in the direction indicated by the arrows.

Referring to the drawings, and at iirst more particularly to Figure l, A designates a scow or barge upon which is mounted a submarine drilling unit designated generally by B. The unit B comprises a spud C which is shown extending through the water D and into the r over-burden or silt E overlying the rock F and has the usual parallel members G which carry at their lowermost end a foot piece H.

ln addition to its function of acting as an anchoring means for the barge A the spud C also Serves as a guide for a guide frame .l which comprises a pair of parallel members K and upon which the drilling apparatus, such as a rock drill L, may be slidably mounted. The portion of the spud C extending above the barge A may be supported by means of a derrickV O and suitable devices (not shown) may be mounted on the derrick or on the barge for raising and lowering the spud as well as the rock drill L and its guide frame J.

As is customary in apparatus of this type, the guide frame J is provided at its lower end with a cross head P to which is secured a sand pipe Q adapted to be driven through the silt E to `seat against the face of the rock F. The sand pipe may, as illustrated, also be guided by the foot piece H and has a funnel-shaped portion R at its upper end to conveniently guide a working implement, such as a drill steel (not shown) to a point on the rock F where it is desired to drill a hole such as that designated by S. By seating the sand pipe Q directly against the rock face the cuttings resulting from the drilling operation may be readily liushed from the vdrill hole S and the sand pipe Q will prevent the entrance of silt into the drill hole.

The above described appara-tus may-be of a well known type and has been herein only briefly described in order that the invention which will be subsequently described and its use in connection with the elements of the drilling apparatus therewith may be more fully understood.

In removing rock from submerged beds it is customary, after the drill hole has been completed to charge the drill hole S before moving the apparatus to a new site even though the charge is not exploded until other series of holes have been drilled. @ne reason for immediately charging the holes is that by maintaining the spud and sand pipe in the positions which they occupy during drilling less groping is required to insert the eX-A plosive material in the drill hole than would be the case were the spud withdrawn and onl7 the approximate location of the drill hole known.

Various means have been devised heretofore to serve as containers for introducing Cil the explosive material into the drill hole. One well known device of this vcharacter consists ot a tubular container having a handle extension rigidly attached thereto. The explosive material is placed in the container and the container is then guided manually into the sand pipe Q. This method of charging` the drill hole has been found to be successful only where the water overlying the material to be blasted is shallow and dormant. Where the barge lies at a considerable height above the sand pipe, and in locations where the current of the water is comparatively rapid, this mode ot charging the drill hole is extremely diliicult. As will beV readily apparent the charging device may in any event be guided only from the surface or" the barge and where the current of the water is strong the device is readily deflected, thus making it an extremely diliicult matter to enter it into the sand pipe Q.

The present invention contemplates the elimination of these difficulties and to this end is provided a container T, preferably of tubular form, having a chamber U tierein for kthe reception of the explosive material V. VThe chamber U may be of a diameter to readily receive the explosive material Vwhich Vmay be conveniently retained within the chamber by an exploder Wire YV secured to the foremost piece of explosive material and leading upwardly to the deck of the barge A. y f

One end of the wire N 'is of course connected to a detonator X inthe explosive material V, and by maintaining the wire W reasonably taut and payingl it out as the container T is being loweredthe explosive materialfwill be readily retained within the containerT. The container may be provided with a. slot Y for the accommodation of the wire W. i

To the end that the guide frame J may be used as a means for guiding the container 'l into the sand pipe Q, and thus to the drill hole S, the said container is provided with a pair of bearings Z and having pivotally mounted thereon guide arms c and d respectively. The bearing Z may be lixedly secured to the end of the container T, and the bearing b is provided with a bore c of somewhat larger diameter than the diameter of the container T so that said bearing may slide freely on the container;

The guide arms c and cl may be similar in all their essential respects and each guide arm is provided at its ends with slots f tor slidable engagement with the inner edges ot the parallel members K.

Suitable means are provided to maintain the guide arms in engagement with the members K. The means provided for this purpose consists of'bolts g disposed in slots It in the guide arms and adapted to be moved into slots in the bearings'. The slots and L are said guide arms.

so arranged that they will register with each other when the guide arms occupy positions perpendicular to the container T', and on the bolts g are threaded wing nuts Ic whereby the bolts g may be conveniently clamped in position.

Being slidable on the container T, it is desirable that the bearing b and the guide arm Z be restrained. against accidentally sliding from the container T. Convenient means are provided for this purpose in the form of a pair oit' cables 0 which are attached at their ends to both the guide arm c and the guide arm l and preferably near the ends of the The arrangement is such that when the charging device is disposed be tween the parallel members K and the guide arms are in engagement with said members the guide arms d will be held in spaced relation with respect to the guide arms 0 by the cables 0.

The charging device is preferably sup# ported by a cable p which may extend upwardly along the derrick O to overrun a sheave (not shown) and havinga return portion Qnto which may be attached a counter weight r to retain the device in, the various positions in which it may be placed and also to relieve the opeartor of the strain of lifting and lowering the device. The cable p carries Va hook s upon which is hooked a loop t in a cable a which is attached with its ends to the guide arm c. An additional loop /U maybe provided in one of the sections ot the cable u' and said loop c is adapted to be placed on the hook s to hold the guide arms in an inclined position wherein they will be out ofengagement with the parallel members K.V y

As may be readily observed the container T is open at both ends. This permits the explosive material to be entered from the front end of. the chamber U and by providing a similar opening at the opposite or upper end of the container the means, such as a wash pipe w, may be readily disposed in the. said M container to subject the explosive material V to water underpressure for expelling the said explosive material trom the chamber U.

When not in use the wash pipe w may hang fsuspended along the guide frame J and the upper end thereof may be attached to a cable m which may be suitably trained over a sheave not shown) on the derrick O. On the opposite or depending end y/ of the cable may be attached a counterweight Pressure fluid may be supplied to the wash pipe w by a flexible conduit 2 leading from a source of pressure fluid supply and connected to a point near the upper end of the wash pipe.

The operation of charging the drill hole S by means of the charging device descibed herein is as follows:` After the drill hole has been completed the drilling apparatus. such as the rock drill L, may be raised and the working implement may then be removed.

ies,

'iiD

The Guide frame J and the sand eine ,how-

b n a 12 ver, remain in the positions vnr-cn they cccupy durino the drilling oper lg The charging device together with the enplosive iaterial in the container T may then be moved between the parallel members I' ot' the guide frame J. Thereafter the Guide arms c and d may be rocked into position to enable the slots 7" in the ends of the guide ar .is to engage the members K whereupon the bolts g may then be moved into the slots j and by tightening the nuts /c said bolts will remain securely in position to hold the guide arms in the guiding position.

lVith the parts thus arranged the container T will occupy substantially the same position previously occupied by the working implement of the rock drill L. rIhe device may then be lowered and the entrance ot the container T into the sand pipe Q and the drill hole S may be effected without difliculty.

As the container T is lowered the bearing of the guide arm d will seat upon the top of the sand pipe Q and the container may then slide through the bearing until the bearing Z in turn seats upon the bearing t, or until the container has entered the drill hole S to the desired depth.

When this position of the container T has been reached the wash pipe w may be lowered and entered in the upperend of the chamber U. Water under pressure may then be admitted into the container and the explosive material V will be ejected thereby and forced into the bottom of the drill hole S.

After ej ecting the explosive material from the container the charging device may be raised until access may be had to the guide arms. The bolts g may then be removed from the slots Ze and the loop o may be hooked on the hook s. In this way the guide arms will again be moved out of engagement with the parallel members K so that the charging device may be readily removed from the path of the rock drill L.

I claim l. In a charging device :tor drill holes, the combination of a support and parallel members thereon to form a guide frame, means forming a container for explosive material,

and means secured to the container and cooperating with the guide frame to guide the container to the drill hole.

2. In a charging device for drill holes, the

, combination of a support and parallel niembers thereon to form a guide frame, means forming a container for explosive material, and means carried by the container and being movable into slidable engagement with the guide frame to guide the container to the drill hole.

3. In a charging device for drill holes, the combination of a` support and parallel members thereon to form a guide frame, means forming a container for explosive material,

and means pivotally secured to the container and being adapted to slidably engage the guide frame for guiding the container to the drill hole.

Ll. In a charging device for drill holes, the combination of a support and parallel members thereon to form a guide frame, a container 'or conveying explosive material to the drill i hole, and a plurality of means spaced with respect to each other along the length or the container and being adapted to slidably engage the guide frame for guiding the container to the drill hole.

5. In a charging device for drill holes, the combination of a support and parallel members thereon to form a guide frame, a container for conveying explosive material to the drill hole, and a plurality of means spaced with respect to each other along the length of the container and being adapted to slidably engage the guide frame for guiding the container to the drill hole, and a bearingfor one of the said means disposed slidably on the container.

6. In a charging device for drill holes, the combination of a support and parallel members thereon to form a guide frame, a container for conveying explosivel material to the drill hole` a bearing aliixed to the container, a second bearing disposed slidably on the container, and arms pivoted on the bearings and being adapted to engage the guide frame for guiding the container to a drill hole.

'i'. In a charging device for drill holes, the combination of a support and parallel members thereon to form a guide frame, a container 'for conveying explosive material to the drill hole, a plurality of bearings, one of said bearings beings aliixed to the container and another of said bearings being disposed slidably on the container, guide arms pivotally mounted on the bearings, means on the ends of the guide arms to slidably engage the guide frame, and means connecting the guide arms whereby one guide arm supports the other guide arm and its bearing.

8. In a charging device for drill holes, the combination of a support and means thereon to form a guide frame, a container for conveying explosive material to the drill hole, a lixed bearing at one end of the container, a movable bearing freely slidable on the container, guide arms pivotally mounted on the bearings and being adapted to slidably engage the guide frame for guiding the container to the drill hole, `llexible means con- Lecting the arms, and means for locking the side arms ixedly to the bearings.

9. In a charging device for drill holes, the combination of a support and means thereon to form a guide frame, a sand pipe interposed between the guide frame and the material intended to be blasted and in axial alignment with the drill hole, a container for conveying explosive material to the drill hole and adapted to pass through the Vsand pipe, a fixed bearing at one end of the container, a

movable bearing freely slidable on the container, guide arms pivotally mounted on the bearings and being adapted to slidablyengage the guide frame for guiding the container into the sand pipe and thus into the drill hole, Cables connecting the guide arms to support the movable bearing and the guide arm pivoted thereon, and means for locking the guide arms to the bearings.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification. A

-CHARLES C. HANSEN. 

